Northern Wind
by bizzarocole
Summary: AU where Morro and Wu never met, Morro never became a ghost, and now lives out his adult life with his child as he runs a kite shop. [Crossposted on my tumblr and DA]
1. Chapter 1

(Thanks to the people that told me it was mostly code. I don't know what happened but hopefully it's fixed.)

In a small remote village someways north of Ninjago City sat a tiny community. An odd handful of families, most of them farmers. Everyone knew each other and shared all that they had. It was quiet and peaceful and that's just the way everyone liked it.

In the center of the village were a few small shops and miscellaneous stands. A small fruit and vegetable cart run by the children of the Village Elder, who ran it before them. A small bookstore that doubled as a library. (The owner wasn't too worried about people stealing books. Most thieves turn out to be kids anyway. Trying to create what little mischief they could in such a small village.) A corner store that sold manufactured goods and prepackaged treats. A tool shop run by the village's top and only repair man. At the center of the semicircle sat by far the largest shop.

A kite shop. It was only the largest because it doubled as the owner's house. On the outside it was nothing special, an old but sturdy wooden structure. The door is made from planks with tall glass panels to see out of. Large glass windows were on both sides of the door to give passerby's a little preview. The inside, however, was gorgeous. In a wide array of colors and patterns were many kites. Small and large, built for different conditions. Ones that looked like fearsome legendary dragons. Others that were small dainty birds. Some that looked like the airplanes that passed over on their way to the big city. All hand dyed and stitched. Assembled with pride and care.

At the register sat a child, no older than 9, scribbling away at a pad of paper. Humming along to a small handheld radio on a shelf high above. Next to them is an old graying tomcat curled up for it's mid-morning nap on the counter.

The front door is pushed open and the bell positioned above rang with a sleepy chime. A man in his early 30s emerges from behind a green and black patterned curtain to greet the customer. The man is of an average height, with big but sleepy eyes and long black hair tied back in a high ponytail. He wears what used to be a white apron over simple clothes.

He greets the new customer. Someone obviously from the big city. An older man with a long white beard and a sedge hat. Dressed in white robes with gold trimmings. The man uses his staff like a walking stick of sorts.

The child sitting at the counter immediately starts drawing the stranger. As he begins walking around the store, inspecting the kites. The owner leans against the counter and pats the kid. His kid if it weren't obvious. Which it was, they were the spitting image of their father. Finally the foreign man approaches the counter and gives a curt nod to the kid and their father.

"I'm not sure you have what I'm looking for." He says while stroking his beard. "I've come a rather long way to be disappointed." The corner of the owner's mouth twitches. "I'm sorry. I can do custom orders if you have something in mind." He jots down something a small card and offers it to the bearded man. "My name is Morro by the way. I'm the owner of the shop. I make the kites." The bearded man opens his mouth to reply but the child stops him short as they stand up on the stool. "And my name's Pan and I'm 9 years old. Next week is my 10th birthday." They pick up the old cat who blinks slowly from the disturbance. "This is Rise. He's way old! Older than me, can you believe it?!"

Morro puts a hand on Pan's shoulder and when the kid looks up at him, he gives them a familiar look. "Oh I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to interrupt you." The old man gives the kid a smile. "That's quite alright young one." He reaches out to pet Rise but the cat hisses and jumps from Pan's hold. Pan hops down from the stool to give chase to the old cat.

The old man looks at Morro once more, he isn't smiling anymore. "I'm afraid you can't just make what I'm looking for." Morro is confused but gives a polite smile anyway, "That's too bad."

"Indeed." The old man purses his lips. Morro is suddenly off put by him, his presence makes the air around him tense. He didn't want the man here anymore. Especially not around his kid. "I'm sorry I can't help you." He says tersely, the corners of his mouth twitch.

A strong wind current makes the door swing open by itself. The old man turns around and Morro looks past him. Pan stands between him and the door, holding a now calmed Rise. They frown at the old man. "You're making my daddy upset, can you leave?" They mumble from behind black and gray cat fur. The old man picks up his staff and slowly makes his way towards the door. Stopping just beside Pan to give the kid a once over.

Pan shuffles over to their dad and climbs back on the stool. The old man pushes through the door and leaves. The air inside becomes less tense. "Pan, you can't use your powers infront of strangers like that." Morro kneels beside the stool and looks up at his kid. "But he was making you upset dad. I could feel it." Morro draws his lips into a thin line and adjusts the collar of Pan's shirt.

"I know you could sweetie. He was just a weird old man. It's okay now." He pats Pan's head and stands up again. The kid puts the old cat down and reaches up for their dad. He sighs but smiles picking the kid up. "You're getting too heavy for this. You're growing so fast." He grunts as the kid basically choke holds him. He pats their back and hums along to the radio.

"You're gonna be 10 next week, you're getting so big." Morro sets Pan down on the counter. The kid is all smiles again. "What are we gonna do on my birthday? I wanna go to the city and see a movie! And then go play at an arcade." Morro laughs as the kid swings their feet excitedly.

"We can do that." Pan's excitement courses through the air, the hanging kites jostle slightly. Morro doesn't let his worry pollute the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Morro walks out of the theatre in a daze, movies excited Pan. They made him feel like he was having an out of body experience. He blinks a few times as Pan tugs his arm, he looks over at the kid and smiles with patience. "That was so cool dad!" Morro nods and hold open the door for Pan as they exit the building along with the other moviegoers.

He forgot that the city was all car horns and bright lights now. When he was a kid the city was so much smaller. It was still huge compared to the village. He remembers his days as a little street rat. Sleeping in wet alleys, running down the narrow back streets to escape capture, stealing, fighting. His nose is permanently crooked from the time some kid a lot bigger than him broke it.

"Dad, are you even listening to me? Hello?" Pan waves a hand infront of his face and he snaps back to reality. "Sorry. What were you saying?" Pan gives a dramatic sigh but smiles anyway. "I was talking about the movie. My favorite part was when the the construction guy fell down the hole and got knocked into everything. And when it was revealed they were just toys! Woah." Morro takes Pan's hand as they cross a busy intersection. "What did you like about the movie?"

Morro makes a funny exaggerated thinking face at Pan, making the kid giggle. "I liked the cat and her kingdom."

"Ok, but that wasn't a part, that was a character." They make it to the other side of the street and continue down the sidewalk. "Fair enough." He let go of Pan's hand and ruffled their hair. Pan swipes at his hand and huffs. "Oh come on dad." They turn the corner and come at a stop in front of busy arcade.

Morro holds the door open and Pan tries to rush in. Morro stops the kid, who gives him a pout. "There's a lot of people here. And we might get separated. I just need you to be on your best behavior and if we do lose each other I'll be standing by the ticket counter." They nod in understanding and Morro hands them money to be turned into to tokens.

The kid takes off, with Morro behind, to the change machine. After the change machine it's off to the games. He watches them disappear into a section of Fighter cabinets and it takes a few minutes to find them playing with another kid on an old Alley Beaters cabinet. He stands across the aisle and watches them for a couple of minutes before scanning the place over.

There were very little adults in the place. But then again, there were very little smaller children there either. After a few minutes the kid Pan was playing with left and Pan moved on to the racing games.

It was funny watching them try to play the games. They weren't a short kid by any means so reaching everything wasn't an issue. It was the concept of shifting gears and drifting that was an issue. Not to mention when they pressed the nitro buttons they lost all control of the vehicle.

After losing their fourth race in a row, Pan gets up and wordlessly stomps off without Morro. Stomps off into the crowd. Which Morro can't wade through. When he finally does get to the other side a quick scan of the rows and rows of cabinets reveals no Pan. He looks over to the small restaurant part and doesn't see them either. Trying not to loose his temper or panic he goes and stands by the ticket counter like he said. In the top corner of the stand he spots a security tv.

He scans the the tiny screen for any trace of green and black. He doesn't see anything. His lips draw into a thin line and he turns around. The color in his face is gone but he tries to keep a lid on it. He waits.

Five minutes. His eyes dart around. He turns cold.

Ten minutes. He starts to sweat a little. His hands shake.

Fifteen minutes. The manager approaches him and asks him to leave. He feels like time has slowed down. "I'm just looking for my kid." He says softly. Or at least what he thinks is soft. In reality he's shouting. He looks angry now.

He's not cold at all anymore, he feels like he's burning. Like all the blood has rushed to the top of his skin. The manager, an old pasty guy, backs away a little. "Can you tell us what your kid looks like?"

Morro sucks in a breath. The front doors swing inwards and a brisk breeze blows papers and tickets about. "Pan. Young kid. Black hair. Brown eyes. Mixed."

The man nods and says something into his walkie-talkie. He directs Morro to the restaurant. "You need to sit down. We'll find your kid. It's okay." He sits at a table in a vacant corner. His expression is blank but his mind is racing.

Flashbacks of him on the streets. Getting beaten. Begging for scraps. Drinking and bathing in dirty water. Except it was Pan. He couldn't think of worse things. He refused to.

A small voice brought him out of his trance. "Dad, I'm sorry for running off, I got mad. I'm sorry I didn't come and find you like you told me to." Morro hugged Pan, his breathing evening out a little. "It's okay. It scared me a little but it's okay."

Pan hugs their dad back. "I ran off to the ballpit and buried myself. Then some kid stepped on me so I got out and went to find you. The guy behind the counter said you were waiting over here." Morro pulls away and moves some of Pan's hair out of their face.

"I'm really sorry dad. I won't do it again." He smiles and Pan shoves their hands in their pockets. "Like I said it's okay. I know you're gonna get angry sometimes. You get it from me. Are you hungry?"

Pan nods. "But I don't wanna eat here. Let's go to Chen's Noodle House."


End file.
